1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a toner cartridge and more specifically, to a container for a toner cartridge, which is easy to make and hard to deform.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional toner cartridge for an image forming apparatus, such as photocopier or printer, is horizontally installed in the image forming apparatus. The toner cartridge generally includes an elongated hollow container for accommodation of toner, and a toner-guiding member mounted on a front end of the container and provided with an outlet for output of the toner. In order to discharge the toner from the container to the image forming apparatus through the outlet, the container is provided at an inner circumference thereof with a plurality of spiral ribs. When the toner cartridge is rotated, the toner in the container will be forced by the spiral ribs to move from the inside of the container to the outside of the container through the outlet of the toner-guiding member.
Because the toner is forced to move by the ribs, the ribs need to be lined on the whole inner circumference of the container, such that a mold for the container can be difficulty made, resulting in high production costs. Further, since the ribs extend to a position close to the front end of the container, the front end of the container may easily deform due to the shrinkage of the plastics after the container is formed with plastic injection molding. In this situation, the toner-guiding member cannot be closely coupled to the container. Thus, it is a need to provide an improved container for the toner cartridge.